Pragmatic Bookshelf has just released two exceptional books. These two books do not cover any framework, or any new technology. I have read the first few chapters in both of these books, and I should say they are just terrific. Without continuing this suspense for long here are the details of the two books I am talking about.

[img_assist|nid=2043|title=|desc=|link=url|url=http://www.pragprog.com/titles/twa|align=left|width=83|height=100]ThoughtWorks Anthology by ThoughtWorks is a collection of essays which covers a wide range of issues facing software developers today.In this book, you’ll find a treasure trove of pragmatic advice to improve the effectiveness of your development efforts.

You’ll find essays on testing, controlling a project, the creation of domain specific languages, issues of build and deploy, programming languages,techniques for software development, and more!

ThoughtWorks is a well-known global consulting firm; ThoughtWorkers are leaders in areas of design, architecture, SOA,testing, and agile methodologies. This collection of essays brings together contributions from well-known ThoughtWorkers such as MartinFowler, along with other authors you may not know yet.

While ThoughtWorks is perhaps best known for their work in the Agile community, this anthology confronts issues throughout the software development life cycle. From technology issues that transcend methodology, to issues of realizing business value from applications,you’ll find it here.

This book features essays by some of the most well know faces in the IT industry like Martin Fowler, Neal Ford and many more.

[img_assist|nid=2044|title=|desc=|link=url|url=http://www.pragprog.com/titles/ahptl|align=left|width=83|height=100]The next one,
Pragmatic Thinking and Learning: Refactor Your "Wetware" by Andy Hunt is currently available in Beta. As per the press release from Pragmatic Bookshelf for this book, Software development happens in your head. Not in an editor,
IDE, or design tool. You’re well educated on how to work with software and hardware, but what about
wetware—our own brains? Learning new skills and new technology is critical to your career, and it’s all in your head.

In this book, you’ll learn how our brains are wired, and how to take advantage of your brain’s architecture. You’ll learn new tricks and tips to learn more, faster, and retain more of what you learn.

You need a pragmatic approach to thinking and learning. You need to Refactor Your Wetware.

Programmers have to learn constantly; not just the stereotypical newtechnologies, but also the problem domain of the application, the whimsof the user community, the quirks of your teammates, the shifting sandsof the industry, and the evolving characteristics of the project itself as it is built.

We’ll journey together through bits of cognitive and neuroscience, learning and behavioral theory. You’ll see some surprising aspects of how our brains work, and how you can take advantage of the system to improve your own learning and thinking skills.